The present invention relates to a modular unit as well as to a method for producing seats. As will become clear from the description, according to the meaning which is becoming increasingly wide-spread in furnishing, the term "seat" is understood as indicating all types of furniture, such as chairs, armchairs, theatre seats, sofas, stools, etc., of which the main purpose is to act as a supporting structure for one or more persons in a seated position.
The invention has been developed with particular respect to the method of producing seats comprising modular component elements intended to provide, from a base module, variants having different functional and structural characteristics.
For example, seats are known to which it is possible, beginning with a base module, to add details which modify its aesthetic, functional and structural characteristics. For example, it is possible to add accessories such as armrests and writing tables to the base modules of the known seats, or to modify their type of support, changing from a seat structure which is independently mounted on legs to multiple seats ill a line supported by a common supporting bar. The functional or structural modification of the seat is usually brought about by the fitting of additional features on the basic seat, the elements being superposed subsequently in order to obtain the required model of seat.
The production of seats by the known method has two main disadvantages: firstly, the addition of the features by superposition increases the overall size of the seat, while the space available for seating remains constant; secondly, the operation for fitting the accessories or for modifying the features of the seat is lengthy and costly, one feature having to be added at a time and each of them requiring intervention on its own connection system, such as, for example, the locking of the connection screws to the base structure of the seat.
The reduction in the ratio between the useful seating space and the maximum size of the seat is particularly undesirable in the case in which stalls are to be installed, for example, in meeting rooms, auditoria, theatres and the like. In such a case, an increase of the maximum size of each seat by a few centimetres causes an appreciable reduction in the number of places which can be provided in these rooms. Further, in the case in which these rooms are already fitted with particular seat models, for example, the base models, it is practically impossible to modify their features, for example, by the addition of accessories such as armrests, without dismantling the entire installation.